SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Source: Facebook

We received this release from the offices of State Senator Martin Golden:

Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of Financial Services, announced representatives of the Department of Financial Services will be at locations in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Nassau County and Suffolk County to help homeowners, renters and business owners with insurance-related issues stemming from damage caused by Storm Sandy.

The Department’s representatives will be available to meet with residents inside the agency’s Mobile Command Center, which will be stationed at these locations:

Brooklyn

• Saturday, Jan. 5 – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jamaica Bay Home Depot, 5700 Avenue U.

Brooklyn

• Tuesday, Jan. 8 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bergen Beach / Mill Basin Shopping Center, 6620 Avenue U.
• Wednesday, Jan. 9 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Coney Island, MCU- Parking Lot, 1904 Surf Ave.

Department representatives will help citizens contact their insurers if they have been unable to do so and answer questions about homeowners’, renters’ and business owners’ insurance coverage.

Citizens unable to go to the Mobile Command Center are encouraged to call the Department’s storm hotline (800) 339-1759 which is staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., daily including weekends. Insurance information is also available on the Department’s website, www.dfs.ny.gov.

Some of the damage in Sea Gate, at the tip of Coney Island, left by Sandy. Photo by Erica Sherman

A news report is shining a light on Coney Island residents still left in the dark with no power, and in some cases with no heat or hot water. Public housing buildings right by the boardwalk got smashed by Sandy – flooding basements, pouring sand into building lobbies, and totaling cars – leaving elderly residents vulnerable, and causing increasing dismay as each day passes.

“Cold, no water, can’t flush my commode, I have to come downstairs and bring water up, ice, my refrigerator is not working because I have no electric. We need help,” told a Coney Island tenant to NY1.

As Sheepshead Bites’ own Laura Vladimirova previously reported, the situation on Coney Island is dire, and the area is in desperate need of supplies and volunteers like her and Bensonhurst Bean’s David Cohen, who both graciously offered their time to help out. If you are looking to donate, Laura recommends the following items: water, matches, candles, flashlights, canned goods, blankets, and clothing.

The Red Cross, FEMA, and the National Guard have set up emergency services in the area to help residents in the area with food and supplies. If you are a Coney Island resident in need of relief services, you can head to Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue until 4:00 p.m. Services are also being offered at West 25th Street and Surf Avenue until 4:00 p.m., and FEMA will be at the MCU Ballpark until 5 p.m.

More information can also be found on the Twitter pages of local pols, including Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, and Assemblymen Alec Brook-Krasny, both of whom are supplying up to the minute status reports and updates from Coney Island in an effort bring the area back from the abyss.

Councilman Mike Nelson posted information on his Facebook page concerning the availability and distribution of free dry ice by Con Edison today for customers without power due to Hurricane Sandy.

According to Nelson:

“Con Edison will distribute dry ice at five locations starting at noon today to customers who are without power due to Hurricane Sandy. Distribution will continue until 6 p.m. or until supplies run out. The company will also have personnel at the locations to answer customers’ questions.”

In our area, dry ice will be available at MCU Park (Cyclones Stadium), 1904 Surf Avenue between West 17th Street and West 19th Street, parking lot section 1B.

Instructions for the safe handling and disposal of dry ice are printed on the bag for residents who pick up dry ice.

It is important to note that dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide and should only be used in well-ventilated areas. Keep children and pets safely away.

Source: Newyorkbob via Wikimedia Commons

The Brooklyn Cyclones play their season opener tonight. They’re squaring off against the Staten Island Yankees at MCU Park at 1904 Surf Avenue.

This year’s team is one of the youngest in franchise history with eight teenagers on the roster.

One of the young players joining the team is 19-year-old Brandon Nimmo. He was the New York Mets’ first round selection in the 2011 MLB Draft. Nimmo hails from Cheyenne East High School in Wyoming.

On top of new team members, there are a lot of other changes the franchise has made for the 2012 season. Things to look forward to include the Brooklyn Baseball Gallery now featuring skee ball and alcohol, a chance to meet players from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. during every game, brand new flagship radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU broadcasting the games, and a social media scoreboard showcasing tweets about the game.

Good luck to the Cyclones this year, we’ll be rooting for you. 

Source: Brooklyn Cyclones

Warner Fusselle, the only man to have ever called the play-by-plays for the Brooklyn Cyclones (1904 Surf Avenue), passed away a week shy of what would have been his 12th Opening Day since the inception of the team.

“We are deeply saddened by the news of Warner’s passing,” said Cyclones General Manager Steve Cohen. “There is no one who knew more – or cared more – about baseball in Brooklyn than Warner. His distinctive voice, knowledge and endless passion for the game enriched Brooklyn Cyclones baseball for our players, staff, and fans from day one and his presence will be sorely missed.”

The sports announcer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised in Gainsville, Georgia. He has had a long career in sports radio as well as television. He voiced the show “This Week In Baseball,” and called the plays for the Seton Hall Pirates; the Richmond Braves; the Spartanburg Phillies; and the ABA’s Virgina Squires.

Besides sports, his great passion was music.

The “Fuse,” as he was nicknamed, died on Sunday night from an apparent heart attack at just 68-years-old.

Borough President Marty Markowitz issued the following statement after news broke of Fusselle’s death:

For fans of our beloved Brooklyn Cyclones, the voice of Warner Fusselle has been silenced after 11 years of passionate and knowledgeable play-by-play from the ‘Catbird Seat’ at MCU Park and, before that, Keyspan Park on Coney Island. Fusselle was a native Kentuckian raised in Georgia, but Brooklynites embraced him as one of their own after he became the voice of the Cyclones at their very beginning in 2001. They call me Mr. Brooklyn, but Warner Fusselle was Mr. Baseball here in Brooklyn, and our prayers and condolences go out to the entire Cyclones organization as well as Fusselle’s sister, two nephews and all of his friends and colleagues who are mourning the passing of “The Fuse.”

As the only voice Cyclones’ fans ever knew, his will be a tough act to follow.